Pet Blogger Challenge 2015
Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every turn. – Scott Adams
Taking Time to Reflect & Find Inspiration Through Others
Today I’m taking part in the 5th annual Pet Blogger Challenge. I’ve loved reading through the previous entries and I’m really excited to take part this time around.
The Pet Blogger Challenge is hosted by Go Pet Friendly. It’s a lovely way to encourage, support, and gain inspiration from our fellow bloggers. I love reading about your goals, inspirations, and challenges. You inspire me every day with your beautiful photos, stories, and insight.
I’ve learned so much from the pet blogging community so far, and I’m looking forward to what’s to come in 2015.
I’ve been blogging since February of 2001. When I started blogging, it was a dinosaur blog. It was me and a handful of tyrannosaurs. We’d be writing blog entries like, ‘The tyrannosaurus is getting grumpy.’ – Neil Gaiman
For any newcomers I’d like to introduce the inspiration behind the blog – my dog Laika.
Pet Blogger Challenge 2015
1. How long have you been blogging? And, for anyone stopping by for the first time, please give us a quick description of what your blog is about.
Just shy of 7 months. Puppy Leaks is about finding ways to improve our lives with dogs – through education, communication, and animal advocacy.
2. Tell us one thing that you accomplished on your blog during 2014 that made you proud.
Having the courage to start a blog to begin with. I’d been messing around with the idea in my head for quite awhile, then one night I decided to just go for it. The term Puppy Leaks hopped in my head, so I bought the domain and just started typing.
Since then it’s been a learning frenzy – and I’ve loved every moment. I’m proud to say I have a blog, something I planned, designed, and wrote. Something to call my own. I went outside my comfort zone and tried something new.
What lessons have you learned this year – from other blogs, or through your own experience – that could help us all with our own blogs?
The blogs I find myself repeatedly coming back to are the ones where I walk away with something valuable. Whether it’s learning more about nutrition, reading an inspirational story, or leaving with a new perspective on a given subject.
From analyzing the blogs I’ve really connected to I learned to stop writing just to write. I don’t worry so much about posting everyday. I still find myself writing a little something each day – but I don’t feel compelled to instantly publish it. Trying to find something to post every day made me write some stuff I’m not proud of.
4. What have you found to be the most successful way to bring traffic to your blog, other than by writing great content?
As soon as I connected with some other pet bloggers through commenting on their blogs I noticed a big difference. When you’re first starting out it’s important to make connections with other bloggers. They’ve been so helpful and supportive – in a short amount of time I really felt like I was part of a great community.
5. What was your most popular blog post this year? Did it surprise you that it was your most popular?
By social shares it’s “Quick & Simple Ways To Relieve Dog Boredom,” which was surprising because it was the first time anything I’d written got more than a few comments and shares. It’s such a nice, warm feeling knowing that something I’d written was deemed share-worthy. It’s the best feeling in the world when you receive such amazing comments.
6. What was your favorite blog post to write this year?
It’s a tossup between “Vaccine for Dogs with Bone Cancer” & “Do Dogs Have Feelings?” The article about Sasha was one of the first heartfelt pieces I wrote. She was the first dog to enroll in the bone cancer vaccine trial being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinarian Medicine. Being able to honor her, and her wonderful owners, for having the courage to join in on the fight against cancer was something I felt compelled to write.
I loved writing about dog emotions from a scientific angle. Dogs are considered property in much of the world – I really wanted to share all of the evidence that suggests how emotionally complex they are. They are sentient beings, and to many of us they’ll always be more than just property. The scientific approach to understanding dogs has come so far in the past decade. There’s a lot of amazing work being done that helps explain why dogs are considered mans best friend.
7. Has your policy on product reviews and/or giveaways changed this year?
Showing off how much of a newbie I really even have a review policy in place. I’ve done two reviews on items that I owned before I started writing – both of which are items I really love. (Outward Hound dog backpack & the Kong Wobbler)
I don’t own a smart phone (I know…lol). So that rules out most gadgets and apps right away.
If you don’t do reviews, is this something you’d like to do more of? What hurdle is getting in your way?
I’m not opposed to doing more reviews – but unless it’s an item I really love it’s hard to find any inspiration for writing them. Laika and I are pretty simple – we don’t have a lot of extra toys or treats in the house. If I do more reviews in the future it’ll be on some basic stuff like leashes or harnesses.
8. What’s your best piece of advice for other bloggers?
Don’t get too caught up in blogging advice. Being a new blogger I thought I had to learn every single aspect of the blogging world. I read about SEO, analytics, HTML, marketing, logos, taglines, a/b testing, backlinks, ect. It’s all valuable information – but it took so much time away from what I set out to do. Write.
Keeping up with technology is important. Having a nice design is important. But what I really find myself in love with is a great story, a wonderful case study, learning something new. It’s so easy to become distracted by details – I have to remind myself that the real foundation of any blog is the words themselves. I don’t even want to admit how many hours it took to find that color for links, or the proper spacing around my header. Things that probably don’t matter to anyone but myself. Don’t get sucked in to managing every tiny detail.
When you’re new to blogging you should reach out to other great bloggers. We’re not amongst competition here, we’re a community. We’re friends. The encouragement that comes from the pet blogging network is wonderful. You’ll find your best support system through other bloggers, and you’ll make a lot of new friends.
9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2015?
I need to work on my organization. My categories, tags, and series are somewhat of a mess. I want to continue to work on my writing skills, and I’d like to learn to take better photos.
10. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one challenge you’re having with your blog, what would it be?
I’m seeking more entries for future round up posts. I’d love for everyone to share their favorite posts from their own blogs as well as others gems they’ve found. I love doing them, it’s enjoyable being able to share other people’s amazing posts – because really great work deserves to be seen. But being one person I know I’m missing out on so many great works, so I’d love your input & suggestions.
Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs. -Seth Godin
Cute dog! Congrats on your new blog and love the idea of round ups too.
Great post!! I love your blog and I can’t believe you’ve only been blogging for 7 months! 😀 Laika is too cute!! I was the same way when I started my blog. I had been playing with the idea for months but I couldn’t come up with a clever name for it, that’s how it ended up being named after my dogs. LOL
I thought the exact same thing when I realized when your blog was started lol.
LOL!!! 😀
Wow, I can’t believe you have been blogging for under a year! I really love your blog and it seems to look better each and every time I stop by!
Your articles are always so informative and well researched – I think you have found a really great niche writing with an angle toward science and medical research.
I (Kevin) am definitely guilty of spending too much time digging into the minutia of running a website (analytics, SEO,etc). I spend a lot of time reading and listening to podcasts on these subjects when I should probably just be writing more. Luckily my wife picks up the slack and gets things done!
We will make sure to send over entry suggestions for future roundup posts!
That was an awesome read, I loved learning more about you and your blog. You are on the right track. Keep writing what you love, connecting in the community, and it will all happen from there.
Thank you so much 🙂
I love the posts you write, especially the scientific type ones 🙂 I didn’t realize you’d been blogging less than a year! You’re doing great. Keep up the good work 🙂
Thank you so much – the scientific ones are so much fun to write, though they take a bit longer to research. I’m so glad to know there are more of us pet bloggers out there that love a good science article now and then 🙂
What a great post! I love your advice to new bloggers. Too much advice can get so confusing, I know it was for me and still can be. I have to admit that I haven’t been able to read a lot of blogs over the last few months which I feel really bad about so I don’t have any suggestions right now but I will keep my out! Keep up the great work!
Oh my goodness, I felt so overwhelmed – as if I was supposed to master every aspect of blogging. Then one day I realized that I was spending all of my time reading bloggers who blogged about blogging. It just became ridiculous. So at least I have it narrowed down a few really good ones now that I’ll look at for some advice now and then. I already have 500 more bookmarked pages than I did 6 months ago – it was getting to be a bit much. Thank you for stopping by – your words mean a lot to me. I love your honesty and writing style.
We started on a whim to experiment with how blogging and social media work together for Mom’s real job, and here we are still having a blast doing more than we ever imagined and the work blog still stinks! Proof you have to put your heart in it or it won’t work very well. We come by your blog at least once a week, can’t always comment because there are so many blogs to read every day. Keep doing what you are doing and what you love to do and you blog will thrive.
Thank you so much for the kind words – I love your writing, and it’s always a great reminded that no matter what’s going on I need to make sure Laika and I are getting a bunch of fun time in together.
Hi Jen! Thanks for joining the Challenge, and congratulations on starting your blog. You’ve come a long way in 7 months! I won’t even tell you how long it too me to recognize that the most important thing about having a blog is to write the posts. And, I’m so glad that I included the question about everyone’s favorite post of the year! So far, forty-three people have participated in the Challenge, so you have a nice bunch of posts to check out for your roundups! =) It’s really nice to meet you.
This has been so much fun, I love reading everyone’s input. I’ve only gotten around to seeing about 8 entries so far lol. I am so glad you host this challenge – it’s such a great way to reach out and connect with people that have similar concerns and questions. It’s brilliant. And yes, I’ve gotten a lot of new ideas for round up posts, I’ve gotten so much amazing input in less than 24 hours.
I’m actually really surprised that you’ve only been blogging for 7 months – seems like you’ve been around forever! Keep up the great work! Love your photos and your writing!
Glad you’ve joined the community – what a great start you gotten off to!
#8 is so true – great point! I’ve come the long way ’round, after getting caught up in so much “advice” about monetizing and doing this and that (which really surprised me about this pet niche after blogging in tech, and still shocks my long-time tech blogger husband too)…. for me it absolutely comes down to “what do you like to *spend your time doing*” – is it photos, videos, writing stories, drawing them, writing tutorials, “educating”, etc. Because unless you like doing whatever it might be, that there’s a point to it *outside* of whatever might be sponsored and crap, there’s no point in trying to make money at it. Unless it’s fulfilling as an activity (you feel like there’s a point to doing whatever it is), why bother because there are way more fruitful jobs out there than this. I think that’s so easy to lose sight of in the plight to “monetize” (which is almost silly because even when you do it’s so often the most low-paid-per-hour plight going, at least in the state of things right now). Dig deep to understand the passion, and do that. Do the blog right, first. If it ends up making money, great. If not, then at least you’re spending your time in a worthwhile way. And massive props for what you’ve achieved in 7 months – crazy impressive!
(and so sorry for the tangent – your response to the question just inspired a line of thought I’ve been pondering lately) 🙂
The tech side got to be so addicting, and although I’m glad I learned some new css tricks and what not I really don’t like thinking about how much time I spent on that rather than doing something more enjoyable, like writing. And since the launch of your new site that tech side of me is super excited to have a new go to resource – and with your well written posts I won’t have to spend so much time researching my issues/questions 🙂 Thank you so much for being an awesome supporter.
Great reflection on the year! I really like your blog and I am also glad to hear your perspective on writing quality content versus posting everyday just to post. I came to the same conclusion a couple of weeks ago. Although, I have never been able to post everyday. Can’t wait to read more in 2015.
That means a lot coming from you – thank you so much 🙂
Hi Y’all!
My Human and I love your blog. So glad you started bloggin’.
Y’all come on by,
Hawk aka BrownDog
I love your blog! I think the name is priceless and I always remember it. You do a great job. I learn new things every day and I hope that I continue that trail. ☺
Terrific advice! I have to go over and read those two “favorite posts”, they sound fascinating. It’s great to meet you, Jen! Here’s a fabulous year in 2015!
The most fascinating part of the challenge for me is reading everyone’s thoughts on writing and posting frequency. I love that you write every day even if you don’t post. That’s a very cool idea. And it gives you the time to decide what you actually want to say.
I think you’ve learned a LOT in the short time you’ve been blogging. You are right on the money with everything, keep on doing what you are doing and the rest will come.
Awesome post and congrats with all the success you’ve had in such a short time! I love reading your articles because they have value and I always learn something. That’s what keeps me coming back to a blog, so keep up the great writing! 🙂
Congratulations on getting your blog up and running. It certainly is a huge learning curve, and the things to learn never seem to end, but it’s worth it.
We can see why Laika is the inspiration behind your blog- what a beauty she is! Keep writing about what you love- perfect!
I’m with you; I need to work on not writing just to write. When I force it, everything comes off as sounding fake and insincere. It’s tough sometimes for me to find inspiration, but reading other blogs like yours definitely helps! 🙂
I love your comment about how this is not a competition but a community! Wonderful!
PS I don’t have a smart phone either. I just can’t carry another source of screen time around!
Oh I loved this post! Thanks so much for letting us into your blogging brain! LOL!
This challenge has been so great to keep up and learn how everyone else goes about things and their tips and questions etc… I will check out your round up thing too.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I loved reading this – still can’t believe how new your blog is – your content and design are superb!
Working on organization is at the top of my list too! My blog categories have gotten out of hand and I’m currently working with mind mapping software to try and consolidate. I have many categories that have only 1 blog post. I minimized the navigation on my blog, but in the coming weeks I will expand it to represent the most popular categories across the blog. Kudos to you for getting on top of this early on. Good luck with your blog and organization this year!
Dogs sure do have feelings. That is a great piece. Hope to see you in May at BlogPaws. Happy blogging!
I can’t wrap my head around analytics, SEO’s or any of that. I blog because I have things to say or photos to share. LOL I always say it is all about me! Congrats on having a successful 7 months.
Great post. I love your site.